The Omaha City Council heard from the public Tuesday on a proposed ordinance that, if passed, would keep the minimum wage in the city at $15 an hour for all workers. The Greater Omaha Chamber is among those in opposition.
In a letter to the council, Omaha Chamber President Heath Mello wrote that the metro must continue to grow wages, but through economic growth rather than an ordinance.
“A city-by-city minimum wage ordinance would create inconsistent wage standards inside a single, interconnected labor and business market,” Mello wrote. “Employers do not experience Omaha’s economy only within municipal boundaries.”
The minimum wage ordinance was drafted at the request of Council President Danny Begley. He cited a ballot initiative passed in November 2022 that gradually raised the state minimum wage to $15 this year, with a mandated cost-of-living adjustment in following years.
In February, senators voted to change that law and allow employers to pay 14- and 15-year-olds $13.50 an hour. Sixteen through 19-year-olds can also be paid at that lower rate for a 90-day training period.
“I’ll never forget that as a 14-year-old kid hustling and learning teamwork and camaraderie,” Begley said. “I don’t want to tell a kid in 2026 or beyond that. ‘Hey, I did that job, but your value is less than mine.’”
Under his proposed ordinance, the city’s Human Rights and Relations Department would implement the minimum wage law and “work with employers to ensure that employees are notified of the yearly changes” and that requirements are met.
The minimum wage would be raised in coming years using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) in the Midwest region.
Four people spoke against the ordinance Tuesday. Representatives of several local nonprofits spoke in support.
Many teens in Omaha aren’t working to spend extra money, but to meet basic needs, said Eric Reiter with Voices for Children.
“Some are supporting themselves, and others are contributing to their families,” Reiter said. “For these young workers, wages are not about convenience, they are about survival.”
Last month, the Lincoln City Council passed its own city ordinance aimed at restoring the voter-approved minimum wage plan from 2022. Before it voted on the proposal, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers released an opinion contending the City Council lacked authority to set its own minimum wage.
“The Local Wage Proposal is inconsistent with state law because the Legislature has already comprehensively regulated minimum wage under the Nebraska Wage and Hour Act,” Hilgers said in the opinion.
In Omaha, council members Pete Festersen and Lavonya Goodwin expressed support for the city’s ordinance. Council members Aimee Melton and Don Rowe said they have legal questions to answer before the final vote scheduled for July 14.